June 4, 2013

SEATTLE — A feel-good geriatric dramedy that behaves as if having a formula eliminates the need to develop characters and give them motivations, Zhang Yang’s Full Circle cheers on residents of a Chinese nursing home who enter a televised talent contest. Friendly but unsubstantial, the import has little to offer Western viewers whose senior-friendly options have recently included such high-wattage titles as the Terence Stamp/Vanessa Redgrave vehicle Unfinished Song, a SIFF entry that The Weinstein Co. will bring to screens later this month.

Xu Huanshan plays Ge, who is forced from home when his wife dies and must squeeze into a nursing home with old friend Zhou (Wu Tianming). There, his pal has already pitched residents on an idea that seemingly came from nowhere: They will create a costumed pantomime routine and make a cross-country trek to perform on the local equivalent of America’s Got Talent. Zhou has his reasons, revealed midway through the film, but the quick enthusiasm of his volunteers is unmotivated, throwing the film into full gear after only a few seconds of scene-setting.

After subjecting Ge to a couple of indignities designed to quickly make him reliant on his new neighbors, the film focuses on the construction of a routine that is baffling to Western eyes. A young Chief Nurse (Yan Bingyan), who in reality would surely embrace any project that got her patients excited in such a low-impact way, becomes a naysayer, canceling their plans for fear that something will happen; the dancers’ adult children unanimously refuse to consent, prompting residents who are clearly capable of making rational decisions to complain about being denied autonomy.

So they sneak out, buying a rusty bus for a wholly predictable road trip where decades-old familial grudges will be healed and (spoiler alert) someone will die — but not, of course, before the gang gets a moment in the sun to prove that old folks are people, too.

Tech values are fine, and the cast (most in their seventies or older) is a good deal better than the material they’ve been given by their director, whose films include 1999’s Shower.

Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Ho-sun Chan has started shooting his next directorial project following Wu Xia, a drama entitled American Dreams In China.

The film is described as a tale of friendship, loyalty and betrayal, following three university graduates who build a multi-billion dollar tutorial empire. Their rise and fall plays out against the backdrop of historical events in China spanning three decades from the beginning of economic reforms to the present day.

“I can see feedback right after people have watched and I am able to know what is good, and what can be improved,” said Gu. “Micro films present a real, direct communication between the director and the audience”.

Huayi Brothers’ “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” easily hold on the top spot for another week with a strong $36.33 million over this past week, while it has hauled in $83.76 million as of last Sunday. Renowned director Kaige Chen’s “Caught in the Web” debuted at number two at the weekly boxoffice chart in mainland China with a decent $7.14 million over its first three days in release. Martial art flick “Wu Dang” started with a not bad performance, sitting at third place with $3.18 million during its first three-day theatrical run.

April 20, 2012

The film and its Chinese title somehow pay tribute to Miloš Forman’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”; but instead of slavishly following the dark theme of Forman’s classic, Zhang has managed to produce a bittersweet family drama.

Needless to say, this latest controversy reached Yen’s ears, and he responded by posting two lines of lyrics from Sam Hui and the late Leslie Cheung’s song “Silence is Golden”, which was, “Let people laugh and scold as they like, be a carefree person.”

Guan Hu (”Design of Death”, “Cow”) announced the cast of his new film “The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel”. In addition to the three leads, Zhang Hanyu, Huang Bo and Liu Ye; the cast includes Tanaka Chie, Wang Xun and Liang Jing in the action comedy. The director and three leads will also act as producers for the Lunar New Year film.

Even before its release, the movie caused something of a stir due to its screening time, which was 220 minutes at its first screening. Regarding this, Wang said audiences will see a 156-minute cut version in cinemas.

During the event, Lu was unable to dodge media questions about his upcoming epic “The Last Supper.” When asked about the film’s release date, he said the post-production stages had been completed, and the movie had been sent to the government film department for review. The film would be released after he made revisions based on the bureau’s advice, Lu added.

In the past 20 years, I worked for a living,” Feng said. “During the process, accidentally, I achieved something. I think my mother brought me into the world to enjoy a happy life rather than a hard one. So in the next 20 years, my main work is to enjoy my life, but not to make movies.”

Feng also talked about Chinese movies being screened in international film markets and told the media there was no need for Chinese filmmakers to cater to the appetites of foreign audiences.

Jiang Wen

Jiang Wen took home the Director of the Year award for “Let the Bullets Fly” at the Chinese Film Directors’ Guild awards ceremony in Beijing this weekend. Bullets also won Picture of the Year and Actor of the Year (Ge You) awards. Zhang Ziyi received the nod for Actress of the Year for “Love For Life”.